Pages

9 Aug 2015

Flesh World / The Wild Animals In My Life (album review)

Bands that have regular names are cool, everything that refers to Twin Peaks in some way is cool - so meet Flesh World, who are just the coolest thing this side of Audrey Horne's wardrobe. Taking their name from the #lads #mags in David Lynch's fictional town of Twin Peaks, Flesh World are a dystopic post-punk band that have just brought their debut album out on Iron Lung records.

At 27 minutes, The Wild Animals In My Life is a short, focused punch of visceral energy that combines the youthful energy of the Modern Lovers with the post hardcore clang of Fugazi, and adds a dash of shimmering 4AD dream-pop to the mix on top. And it's an exciting record; from the fuzzy distortion at the start of opener To Lose Me, to the surprisingly melodic Patti Smith-esque Poolside Boys, to the frenzied close of Here In The Dark, there's not actually a dull moment throughout the whole duration. Maybe on first listen, the earlier tracks on the album seem kind of anonymous, but upon reexamination, virtually all of it has it's own distinct feel.

Perhaps, with frontwoman Jess Scott being a longterm member of bubblegummy noise-pop band Brilliant Colors and lead guitarist Scott Moore being a member of hardcore punk band Limp Wrist, it's not really any surprise that the sound of Flesh World is somewhere in the middle, with their post-punk sound having obvious influences in hardcore and Slumberland Recs type indie-pop, but that doesn't make this album any less nice to listen to.

Sure, it does sound a bit like 'just noise' to begin with; it's a grower, and you need a few different listens to pick out all the different bits, but once you've really got to know this album, it's really something special by a really wonderful band.

8.0/10this album is available for purchase as an lp hereyou can watch a kexp session to see what all the fuss about is hereyou can catch flesh world on their uk tour this autumn - 4th September - Brighton - Hope & Ruin5th September - London - Oval Space6th September - Manchester - Q Cavern7th September - Glasgow - The Flying Duck 8th September - Nottingham - The Chameleon9th September - Sheffield - Lughole10th September - Norwich - Rumsey Wells 11th September - Leeds - Temple of Boom12th September - London - New River Studios(written by calum cashin)

you've reached...

Vapour Trail is an online music platform set up in 2014, run by Cal Cashin (@calcashin_). We like loud guitars, great characters, and beautiful music. Direct all questions to @vapourtrailblog or vapourtrailblog@gmail.com